Himilayan Crocodile Newt Habitat.

Despite my bad streak of luck- I nearly feel I don't deserve to keep caudates lately- I'm having another go (sooner than I thought but there are few chances up here).
I've decided to rehome (in a sense, the man is giving them away free) 2 Crocodile newts from a man here in sunny Scotland.
I've got everything I need for them- Food, a habitat, patience and lots of caresheets.
I just need to check with you all on a few things. According to the seller they're all still primarily aquatic (70% of the time they're in the water) and he wouldn't suggest a terrestrial setup. They have however morphed. Other people have advised a fully terrestrial set-up though. So I've gone for a comprimise and made a semi-aquatic one until circumstances change.
Here it is- I'll change it accordingly if you feel it could be hazardous or unsuited.




The land area has a diameter of 10 inches so I think it would be sufficient as these newts are only 2 inches.

Tell me what you think- I'be obviously not kept these newts before or had semi-aquatic set-ups so I'm still learning the dos and don'ts.

Thanks for your patience,
Ian

That setup looks like it should work for them (I assume you mean T. verrucosus by Himalayan Crocodile Newts). However, there could be a few details to check:
Make sure that dirt doesn't accumulate too much beneath and between the rocks. You could probably do without the soil-filled area, and just use a flat stone with a hide on top, to reduce the amount of muck that ends up in the water. You might also want to put some water plants in to encourage them to go in the water. What is the temperature of the water? If you want them to stay in the water, a rather warm (for newts) temperature of around 23-24 deg. C should be maintained. If it goes much below that, they will stay terrestrial. If you want them to stay in the water, make sure the land area doesn't get too dry (another reason to use a solid object rather than soil for the land area).

On the other hand, if you want them to be terrestrial, then, once they have completely metamorphosed, you can move them to a damp woodland-type terrarium with only a small amount of water, or alternatively to a damp-kitchen-roll-and-hide setup. For terrestrial animals, a cooler temp of about 18 Centigrade is about right.

Hope that helps

Good luck